


Saved

by akiraflame_tumblr



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-15
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2018-02-17 10:52:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2307050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akiraflame_tumblr/pseuds/akiraflame_tumblr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place right after Beth is taken. She manages to find the emergency trunk release button to escape her kidnapper and Daryl, of course, comes to her rescue. Bethyl fluff. May contain spoilers for S5.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Beth!" Daryl yelled over the screeching of the car's tires as they pulled out of the gravel driveway, the rubber wheels straining to get traction with the harsh acceleration. The hunter ran after the car, panic gripping him tightly. "BETH!" He ran as fast as his legs could carry him after the car, following it as it turned on to the road.

Beth groaned as the car lurched forward and she put her hand to the back of her head, flinching when she brushed the knot forming.

 _"Beth!"_  she heard faintly and her heart seized. It all came back to her in a flash – limping to the road and turning to wait on Daryl, looking around the bushes and tree limbs anxiously to see if he was coming or not. Her heart was beating in her ears and she could barely hear the walkers groaning around her. A sudden knock to the back of her head had her falling forward, her body fighting to stay conscious. Their bag fell off her shoulders as arms wrapped around her and lifted her up. Darkness swam in her vision and Beth felt her eyes close. She hadn't been out of it long, she could tell because she came to with the squealing tires and the lurching of the car.

 _"BETH!"_  Daryl yelled again, his voice growing fainter as the car moved faster. Beth sat up as much as she could. She remembered briefly a lesson someone had told her long before the end of the world happened that if she was ever trapped in a car's trunk, to find the emergency trunk release button that was inside the trunk. Beth's hands flew wildly around the trunk, trying to locate it in the darkness around her. She didn't know if this particular vehicle had one, the law hadn't been made until early 2000's. If this vehicle was made before then, it may not have an emergency release button.

Beth grew frantic. She could hear Daryl yell her name again and it sounded even further away. A sob escaped her and she beat blindly on the top of the trunk. Her fingers hurt from her frantic digging and pulling. Just as she was about to try and find a plan b, her fingers brushed a small plastic button on the lower part of the trunk, near the latch. Her fingers pushed it and the trunk door flew open. The wind blew around her and her eyes took in the road moving quickly beneath her. Her eyes flew to Daryl and she saw him stumble slightly at the sight of her.

"BETH!" he yelled and Beth let out another sob in relief at the sight of him. She could see him take a deep breath as he pushed himself to run toward her faster. The blonde eyed the road passing beneath her and asked herself if the injuries from jumping out of the fast moving vehicle would be life threatening or even manageable. Would she be able to run? Her injured ankle already saw to it that that wouldn't happen. Would it worsen her injury? Would she be able to defend herself after getting out of this situation? If her wrist or arm hit just right, she'd break it or strain it. But anything would be better than being a hostage.

She was about to roll herself out and risk it when the driver slammed on the breaks, making Beth fly backwards into the trunk. Thankfully, she had kept her head ducked from her preparing to roll before the car's sudden stop, and she avoided hitting her head on the trunk. Beth scrambled out of the trunk and bolted towards Daryl as fast as her injured ankle would let her, sobs escaping her body in loud gasps as she did. Beth turned and saw the driver scrambling out of the driver's seat after her and she let out a loud cry.

"Daryl!" He was close now, raising his crossbow at her kidnapper. She could see the exhaustion in his face but he pushed himself to run the last little bit to get to her. His arm wrapped around her and pulled her behind him, his body tense with rage at the man approaching them but Beth had never felt safer as she clung to the back of his vest. Daryl let out a growl and fired the bolt at her kidnapper, killing him instantly. Daryl stormed to the man's body, ripping his vest out of Beth's grip as he went, and kicked it, releasing his anger and panic on the corpse. Beth stood there watching for a moment before wiping her face and limping to the hunter. Her hand touched his arm softly and he stopped, turning to face her abruptly. His eyes raked over her, looking for any injuries and she shook her head.

"Just a bump, Daryl. I'm okay. I'm safe, I'm back with you…" She could see the tension leave his body and he nodded, guilt showing in his eyes as he met hers again.

"I'm sorry, Beth, I shoulda…"

"No, it's not your fault. I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. He came up behind me. But I'm okay. You  _saved_  me, Daryl."


	2. Chapter 2

Dark blue eyes stared at baby blue, staring and moving over her face as if making sure she was as okay as she said she was. The petite blonde did her best to look confident and strong on the outside, but on the inside she was still shaken.  _What would have happened if I hadn't escaped? What would Daryl do if I had been taken? Would he have been alright on his own? Of course he'd be okay physically, but what about mentally? The man already blames himself for the attempted kidnapping, what would he do if they had been successful and I was gone?_  Her thoughts asked, her stomach sinking at the thought of leaving him. They had opened up to each other over the months they had been together, him telling her more about him than he had ever told anyone in their family before. Beth felt safe, comfortable, cared for with the silent hunter.

She shook her head, they didn't have time to think on any of that right now, and squeezed the hunter's arm. His eyes darted to her hand, a brief look of surprise crossing his features as if he had forgotten she was touching him. Daryl's eyes moved to look around them and Beth could hear walkers in the trees beside the road.

"Come on," his voice was rough and Beth could tell he wanted to say more but couldn't. The hunter bent down and removed the bolt from her kidnapper's head and Beth looked away. "We'll take the car for a while." Beth's eyes moved to the car, namely the trunk, and she frowned. She had  _no_ desire to get back inside that vehicle, but she nodded and limped to the trunk, closing it with a  _thunk_. A growl from Daryl made her turn to face him again, jumping slightly when she noticed he was standing directly behind her. He turned her body roughly so that he was staring at the back of her head.

"Jesus, Beth, you said 'just a bump,'" he snarled and Beth could feel his presence walk away from her quickly. She turned her head and watched as he kicked and stomped on her kidnapper's body, his rage showing in his clenched jaw and fists. She reached a shaky hand the back of her head and felt a sticky mass of hair. She was bleeding. Had she been bleeding this whole time? Her mind whirled as she remembered feeling the knot forming while she had been in the trunk but she didn't remember feeling any blood. Then again, she had been panicking inside the trunk; perhaps her brain just hadn't registered the sticky feeling. Her eyes moved to her hand, the one she had used to originally feel the back of her head and sure enough, there was dried blood on it.

"Daryl," her voice was soft and it trembled. Now that the adrenaline was no longer pumping quickly through her veins, she noticed her head was  _throbbing._ She felt nauseous. "Daryl," she said loudly before hobbling to the roadside and vomiting. She heard a curse from behind her before one of Daryl's strong arms wrapped around her, the other helping keep her hair back as her stomach emptied violently. Beth straightened, her balance teetering slightly as she wiped her mouth on her coat sleeve, her ears ringing and the throbbing in her head worse.

"Beth, look at me," his voice seemed distant but Beth turned to face him carefully, feeling dizzy with every movement. "Fuck, I think you've got a concussion." His eyes left hers for a moment, taking in the still approaching walkers. "Alrigh', we need ta go…I'll try to find us a place to rest but I need you to stay awake for a bit. Come on," Daryl bent down to pick her up and carry her but Beth's hand stopped him. Nausea rolled in Beth's stomach as she shook her head and hobbled to the passenger side of the car and dropped herself carelessly into the passenger seat.

Concern filled Daryl but he forced himself to climb in to the car and drive off. He drove for a while, the sun coming up then moving across the sky above them slowly as his eyes moved from Beth to the road and the area around them in hopes of seeing a place they could stop to rest. Beth would probably need a couple of days to recover from her ankle injury and now the head injury. His eyes moved back to Beth, who was still awake and talking to him softly about nothing in particular, her speech slurring every once in a while showing him how bad her concussion truly was. It made him want to kill her kidnapper again, but slower this time. The asshole didn't deserve the quick death he had gotten but Daryl's concern had been solely focused on saving Beth as his eyes took in the gun her kidnapper had in his hands. The bolt had flown as soon as Beth was safe behind him, his only thoughts being ones of relief at the feel of Beth clutching his vest and coat tightly.

"What 'bout there?" Beth's hazy voice cut through Daryl's thoughts and his eyes followed her finger to a warehouse hidden down by the train tracks they were driving beside and he nodded, slowing the car down and parking it around the trees. The car was low on gas but they'd be able to get further in it with the little bit of gas it had left then they would on foot, so he wanted to hide it as best as he could. His eyes moved quickly over their surroundings. He didn't see any walkers in their immediate area so he turned to Beth.

"Stay here, I'll clear it out. Stay awake just a bit longer, alrigh?" Beth's eyes met his and she smiled slightly.

"I don't have our bag…I lost it at the funeral home," she replied, making Daryl blink in surprise at the subject change. His eyes moved to her knife on her hip and he nodded, glad to see she could still defend herself and that she hadn't put the knife in the bag he had left behind in his hurry to save her. "Yea, be safe," she said in answer to his original question. Daryl's eyes narrowed, concern filling his stomach with lead. He climbed quietly from the car, shutting the door softly behind him before making his way to the warehouse across the train tracks from the car, his crossbow knocked and in place at his shoulder, his eyes glancing around him for a walker.

The warehouse's door was open and Daryl paused in midstep when he heard voices, roughly six male voices coming from the inside of the warehouse. He immediately back-pedaled, intending on returning to the car and leaving when a gun cocked behind him.

"I'm claimin' the vest. I like them wings," one of the male voices said behind him. Daryl spun, focusing his aim on the man in the center of the group of six. The man was older, with grey hair and a beard.

"Now, hold on there, Len," the older man said as he took in the crossbow and hunter holding it. "A bowman. I respect that. See a man with a rifle coulda been some kinda photographer or soccer coach back in the day. A bowman's a bowman, through and through. You pull that trigger, these men are gonna drop you again and again. Why hurt yourself when you can hurt others? Name's Joe." Daryl eyed the man in front of him, his thoughts whirling. Concern for Beth, what he could do to get back to her without giving away that he wasn't alone, without leading these men straight to her. He knew men like this. Had dealt with them through Merle often enough that he knew what to expect, what they were like but Beth? She would be like dangling a steak in front of a pack of starving lions. Joe's eyes moved over Daryl's shoulder and Daryl saw smirks appear on the six men's faces. His ears picked up the soft sound of Beth's limping footstep and he closed his eyes tightly, a breath rushing out of him. He backed up a couple of steps, keeping his crossbow aimed at Joe.

"Daryl?" Beth's voice was heavy with concern and something else. She sounded sick and Daryl turned his head to look at her. She was shaking slightly and she looked like she was going to throw up again. Her knife was clutched loosely in her hand and Daryl could feel his anger at the situation growing. One of the men, the one who wanted his vest and had a bow aimed at them leered at Beth.

"I claim the girl," he said. Daryl stiffened, instantly moving in front of Beth. He felt her hands grab his coat tightly and felt a small sense of comfort from the gesture. She was safe and he was going to keep it that way.

"You ain't fuckin' touchin' 'er," he told the man. Joe glared at the man before turning back to Daryl and raising his hands in surrender.

"Hold up, Len. You've got a claim on her, Daryl was it?" Joe asked and Daryl quirked an eyebrow in confusion but he nodded, having a feeling that answering yes to the question would save her, at least temporarily, from the harm Len would cause her. "Alrigh' then, we respect that. We won't touch her. She don' look too good, she bit?"

"No," he answered simply. Joe eyed him, clearly wanting more information but Daryl wasn't particularly feeling up to chatting. "She just needs rest."

"Alrigh' then, we're bunking inside for the night," Joe told him before turning and walking inside. The men stared at Daryl and Beth for a moment before following the older man. Daryl finally lowered the crossbow and turned to Beth.

"I told you to stay in the car, Beth," he chided but his voice was too heavy with relief, even if it was just temporary, to sound angry.

"I could see those men from the car, I was concerned they were gonna hurt you," she told him honestly, her hand finding his and squeezing it lightly. He sighed and leaned his forehead against hers, his eyes meeting hers.

"Next time, do as I say, no matter what." Beth nodded slightly against his head and he huffed out a breath. "Come on, let's see if we can get your wound cleaned up and rest a little. I'll have to wake you up frequently but rest is the only thing that will really help. See if we can't find something to prop your foot up on too; get fresh blood flow to that ankle." He turned and then stopped, facing her again as he tightened his hold on her hand.

"These men…they're not good men, Beth. Stay close to me at all times, we'll see if we can split from them soon." Beth lowered her eyes briefly before raising them to meet his again, her eyes were sad.

"I'm starting to think maybe you were right, Daryl." He eyed her in confusion for a moment before she continued, "bout there not being any good people left in the world…" Her words unsettled Daryl. Concussions could result in personality changes and he found himself hoping that the concussion was to blame for her sudden lack of faith in the world around them.

"Nah," he told her quickly, "you were right. We just…have terrible luck. We'll find them soon 'nough." Daryl didn't agree with his words but he could see them help Beth as her eyes brightened slightly and her smile return. He also didn't know who he meant by them. Did he mean good people or their family? Her hope that they would find them had needled its way into his brain and he often found himself looking for their footprints or some proof that their family had been there as they walked.

"Come on," he told her before gently pulling the hand he still held tightly in his towards the warehouse.


	3. Chapter 3

The night had been a rough one. Daryl was exhausted but he kept his face neutral as he stalked quietly through the trees, his eyes on the trail on the ground in front of him. Beth's hand was tight in his, his concern for her safety and well being leading them to hunt for breakfast together. A sense of pride bloomed in the hunter's chest as Beth moved stealthily behind him like he had taught her, despite her injuries and exhaustion.

Daryl had refused to sleep the night before, keeping watch on Beth, cleaning her injuries with what little water they had found (after they had drank some of course), and waking her frequently to make sure she could do so when she finally fell asleep. Joe had been very specific with his men when they had entered the warehouse the night before. No one was to go near the girl, but the look some of them had on their faces had kept Daryl up all night, his crossbow up and ready to fire at anyone who dared get too close to their corner. Daryl squeezed Beth's hand as he stopped walking and he felt her shift to look over his shoulder at the rabbit that would be their breakfast. He leveled the cross bow and fired it right as an arrow flew past his cheek and hit the rabbit.

"What the hell?" Daryl asked angrily before stomping over to the rabbit and yanking his bolt and the dumbass's arrow out of it and carrying the body back to Beth, who took it in her hands so that he could deal with Len if it came to that. "We've been tracking this all morning."

"The rules of the hunt don't mean jack out here," Len told Daryl with a smirk, his eyes leering at Beth briefly. "Now that rabbit you're holdin' is claimed. Claimed whether you like it or not. So if I was you, I'd hand it over, now, before you get to wishin' you didn't even get out of bed this morning." Daryl said nothing but put his hand to Beth's lower back and gently pushed her to start walking back to the warehouse so that they could cook it and eat.

"You know, I bet this bitch is just usin' you. She's got you all messed up over a piece a tail. She must be a good'un for you to be hangin' all over her like that. Why don't ya share her? If she's good enough to make you all pussy whipped, maybe she'll be good enough for the rest of us." Len sneered and Daryl moved quickly, his knife coming out of its holster, his body whipping around to defend Beth's honor before his brain had even thought about the potential consequences.

"Whoa, easy there, Daryl," Joe interrupted. Daryl barely heard him over the sound of his racing heart in his ears. Truth be told, it was Beth's hand and her quiet voice that made him stop.

"It's not worth it," she told him softly before she tossed the rabbit to Len. "He's just tryin' to get ya to do something so that he can retaliate and bring the group down on ya with him." Daryl took a deep breath and put his knife back in its sheath, his eyes moving to Beth's. "Come on, we can find another rabbit."

"Just make sure you claim it, Sweetheart," Joe called after them. Daryl cursed under his breath, earning his hand another squeeze from Beth's. Beth pointed out a set of squirrel tracks, saying they looked fresh and Daryl nodded, his lips quirking slightly as another bloom of pride swelled in his chest.

"You can shoot it, I'd probably miss if I tried. My head's still…woozy sometimes…but I might as well work on my tracking skills while I'm out here," she told him and he grunted, his thoughts first drifting to her head injury, his eyes taking in where her hair was still pink tinted from the blood he had attempted to wash out the night before and the visible wound she had. She had carefully pulled most of her hair back into a ponytail after he had cleaned up what he could, but putting the hair around the wound in the elastic band had hurt more than leaving it down so she had left the hair around the wound free and loose down her back. Anger at her kidnapper boiled every time his eyes took in her injury and stained hair. His thoughts then drifted back to Len's words, making his anger seethe under his skin.

"Daryl," she turned and faced him, her face stern. "You need to let go of what he said, ignore it. He was just tryin' to get you in trouble with Joe. Lord knows what would happen if you had actually hit him or worse. Joe would probably have you beaten or killed in revenge and we both know that I'm near useless right now with this ankle and my head." Daryl nodded, understanding what Beth was not saying aloud. The petite blonde was a fighter and had been working on self-defense with the hunter whenever they could, they both knew that, but she would not be able to do much against all of the men of Joe's group, especially not all at once. She lacked the skill and physical strength. No, she needed Daryl to stay safe to help keep her safe against them.

"He had no right," Daryl growled. "You ain't a bitch or a piece a tail. You're…" Daryl stopped and looked at the ground in front of his boots, watching as Beth's boots came closer until they were toe to toe. He raised his eyes to meet hers briefly and he felt himself stiffen fractionally when her lips met his cheek softly. His brain automatically compared it to the last time someone had tried to kiss him on the head. He had unconsciously flinched away from Carol the one time she did it but his body didn't do that with Beth, he had only stiffened in surprise (and maybe uncertainty). No, he trusted her more than he had ever trusted anyone before.

It almost scared him to think of how much he trusted and cared for the young woman in front of him. Yes, he cared for her; he had figured that out as he lay in the coffin at the funeral home when she sang for him. He couldn't figure out  _how_ he cared about her, though. It was more than the familial feelings he had for Carol and the others from their prison group, but he couldn't tell exactly what it was with Beth. He had never felt like this for anyone before. It was new to him and he couldn't figure it out to save his life.

He was brought back from his thoughts when Beth stepped away slightly. The kiss had been chaste and it warmed his skin like it was fire but his brain instantly filed away the feeling of her cool, slightly chapped lips. The feeling of them made his heart jump and he felt that strange, tumultuous feeling in his chest again. He got the feeling a lot around the blonde. When he held her hand (like he still was right now) or saw her smile. The feeling made his heart light and his lips urge to lift in a smile. He allowed a small grin when he saw her smile as she leaned further away from him. His hand moved slightly, an urge to fix the piece of hair that fell across Beth's forehead overcoming him but he settled for squeezing the hand he held. "I ain't gonna let anything else happen to ya, Greene."

"I know. Now come on, Mr. Dixon, we've got a squirrel to catch."

* * *

The group moved on after breakfast, following the tracks to catch the killer of one of Joe's men. Daryl felt something sit uneasily on his stomach when Joe explained that to them and he began walking towards the back of the group, whispering his concerns to Beth as he gave her another "serious piggyback" as she jokingly called it. Daryl figured that if they fell back enough from the group, they could slip away more easily and things could go back to it just being the two of them in the woods, the way he liked it.

"Daryl, look," Beth whispered, sending a shiver down his spine as her air brushed against his ear. She moved her arm and pointed at something written on the side of a building.

_Glenn, go to Terminus – Maggie, Sasha, Bob_

"I knew she was alive," Beth muttered, her voice teasing as she pinched his arm lightly. Daryl glared at her over his shoulder but he knew she could tell it was a harmless gesture. His lips lifted into a smile when their eyes met, his fake annoyance over her teasing and pinching lifting at the sight of her bright smile and hopeful eyes. Beth's smile dropped slightly as she looked back at the sign. "She must think I'm dead. Or maybe she just thinks I'm with Glenn."

Daryl's eyes went back to the sign and he couldn't help but feel a slight annoyance at the older Greene sister. Beth squeezed his shoulder and she gave him a slight smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Think about it, Daryl. It makes sense. I could barely protect or feed myself when we ran from the prison. Your hunting kept me from starving to death and all I had was a gun with no ammo. I would've been walker food shortly after leaving if you hadn't been there and given me your knife to use."

"You stole it, I recall," he grumbled as he continued walking, his hands adjusting her on his back and tightening their grip on her thighs slightly at the thought of her being "walker food." He could hear his crossbow bounce against Beth's back and their trash bag of belongings with his jostling of her body and felt a pang of guilt and concern that the weapon might bruise her. She had offered to wear his crossbow on her back and even used the strings of the trash bag as backpack straps so that he could focus on carrying her. Beth had made sure to adjust the knife and its holster so that he could grab it, drop her, and protect them if needed. She didn't complain or say anything about the weapon's movement on her back. Instead, she chuckled at his accusation, the adjustment, and his grip and Daryl felt his agitation at Maggie wane slightly at the sound and feel of it through his vest and coat.

"I didn't steal it. You left it in the ground at our camp…"

"The suck ass camp, yeah, I remember."

"I only called it that because you were being impossible, near mute. I didn't mean to offend you or anything…I also didn't understand what you were thinking or feeling…I just thought you didn't care and were feeling burdened by me…"

"I know. I'm a dick sober too," he muttered and he felt Beth shake her head, some of her hair tickling his neck and falling over his shoulder with the movement.

"No, you had the weight of everything that happened on your shoulders. You had the feeling of needing to be strong and help me survive on your mind. I didn't know that at the time…I couldn't read you as well as I can now." Beth's arms looped loosely around his neck again, her fingers idly messing with the buttons on his coat and her chin rested on his shoulder, her temple leaning slightly against his head as he walked. This piggyback felt much more…intimate than the first one he had given her. Not that Daryl found himself complaining any, he found he liked the feeling of her draped over him like she was, though his legs and back were hoping for a break, a chance to stretch and pop.

"We're gaining on him, boys," Joe announced and Daryl looked at the footprints he could see between the boards of the train tracks. They were fresh, perhaps only an hour or so old. "Let's stop and eat, we'll be caught up with them tonight!" Daryl sighed and followed the group to an area off the tracks. He eased Beth down to her feet and twisted his back, which gave a loud pop.

"I could have walked, you should have said something," Beth chided him. He shrugged before gesturing for her to follow him into the trees near by to see what food they could find and to "take a piss," he told her. He could see most of the guys from Joe's group had the same idea, though they stayed away from Daryl and Beth as they hunted, Joe's warning still hanging in their minds, though Daryl was starting to wonder how much longer they had until one of them tried something.

Beth managed to find some berries and they munched on those as they looked for any animal tracks. They had to give up after a while and returned to their bag at the campsite, only to find Len yelling at Joe that someone stole his rabbit.

"I bet you two did it," Len accused. "Dump your bag!" Daryl growled and picked up their bag, staying between Len and Beth in case he tried anything. Joe approached them and took the bag from Daryl.

"Did you steal his rabbit, Daryl?"

"Hell no," he replied, glaring at Len. Beth shook her head when Joe glanced back at her before he sighed.

"Well see, now we've got a conundrum. Let me see," Joe dumped their bag and Daryl felt his anger steep into rage when the rabbit fell out of their bag. He also felt concern for Beth as Joe glanced from the rabbit's body to Daryl's eyes.

"You musta put that in there when we all left to hunt," Daryl told Len who stepped forward, his fists clenching and a sick smile covering his face at the idea of punishing Daryl for his thievery.

"Now, wait a minute here, Len," Joe put his arm in front of Len and he glanced back at the rest of the group as they returned to see what the fuss was. "Now, Len, Daryl's saying he didn't steal it."

"So, he's lyin'. We need to teach him to follow the rules!"

"No, see…I saw you put it in his bag. Teach Len, boys. Teach him all the way." Daryl stared at Len and watched as the other guys surrounded him and began beating him. Daryl turned back to Beth and turned her around.

"Let's go hunt or somethin'." He told her, not wanting her to watch the beating Len was receiving. She nodded numbly and grabbed his hand tightly in hers. "We're leaving them, today."


	4. Chapter 4

When Beth and Daryl returned from their hunting, Joe's group was splitting Len's belongings between them and Len's body lay by the trees, blood covered with an arrow sticking out of one eye. Daryl gently led Beth past the body to their bag and their still-scattered belongings. Beth met Daryl's eyes, sharing her concern for their well-being with him in the short glance. He nodded, mouthing "tonight" to her before turning to see what of Len's they could still claim. All the others had left behind was a blanket. Daryl picked up the blanket and glanced briefly at the body, his thoughts reminding him of the time at the golfers clubhouse where Beth had asked him to help her cover the woman's body. His thoughts briefly flashed back to Len's words about Beth and he threw the blanket back to the ground.

"Daryl, what is it?" Beth's voice was quiet from behind him and he turned to face her, walking towards her and leaning his forehead against hers, closing his eyes at the contact. The simple act brought a calm back to his mind and he shook his head against hers.

"He doesn't deserve it. The respect of bein' covered. Not after what he said about you," he told her, opening his eyes and meeting hers. "I know you told me to ignore it, but I can't."

"Okay," she replied, stepping back slightly before leaning up to kiss his cheek again. He cleared his throat, feeling the men watching them.

"Take the crossbow. I'll give ya another serious piggyback." He pushed the crossbow into her hands and she huffed in annoyance, a small smile forming on her face with his actions.

"I can walk for a while, Daryl," she pointed out as she slung the weapon across her back and adjusted the trash bag to hang off her back as well.

"Slower than a snail, Greene, and I don't think they want to wait any longer to catch this guy." He glanced briefly at Joe and the others who were all turning and resuming their walk before turning and holding his hands out behind him. Beth sighed before putting her hands on his shoulder and jumping onto his back, her arms looping loosely around his neck, her hands going back to playing with his coat buttons as his hands wrapped around her thighs and adjusted her on his back. He started following the group, lingering back several feet and increasing the distance casually.

"So, are you two married or something?" one of the men, Harley, asked, glancing back briefly at Daryl and Beth. Daryl glanced briefly over his shoulder at Beth, jumping slightly when he realized how close her face was to his. Her lips quirked in a small smile and she kissed his cheek.

"I think it might be best if we say yes to his question," she whispered in his ear. Daryl "hmm'd" in response and Beth shrugged slightly. "Think about it. Joe's word has kept them from messing with us but look at them, they're getting antsy. They keep glancing at us. Getting to take out Len this morning might have reminded them of the… _fun_  they could have hurting others. Maybe if we say we're married, it'll be like an extra "claim" on both of us and they won't want to do anything?"

"Or it could have the opposite effect, Beth, and they see a weakness for both of us."

"I get it; you don't want to tell us. You can ignore the question and continue your little lover's quarrel back there," Harley called out and the guys snickered. Beth set her chin on Daryl's shoulder, wrapping one of her hands in the fabric of his shirt under his coat, the heat of his skin radiating through the fabric and warming her chilled hand. She felt the man sigh and relax slightly at the contact and she fought back a grin, her stomach filling with butterflies and her heart skipping a beat at the small smile she saw form on his lips.

Beth sighed, placing her cheek on his shoulder, her eyes watching his face through his long hair before closing them. Her thoughts whirled to the few interactions she and the hunter had had before the prison fell and how close they had become since everything fell apart. She thought of how protective he had become of her and her thoughts finally landed back on their candlelit dinner, sitting side by side at the small table in the funeral home. Her brain had tried bringing up that moment frequently but she kept pushing it back, needing to focus on other things.

 _"What changed your mind?"_  The intense stare he had given her had spoken everything to her. She could see uncertainty in his eyes, but beyond that she could see that  _she_  had been the one to change his mind. Not only had she shown him that hope was possible and that there were still good people in the world, but she had opened him up. He told her things she knew no one else in their family knew. He told her about his father and his mother. His childhood with and without Merle. Of his time drifting with his brother, the things they would do together. How he refused to try drugs after watching what it did to his brother.

He had been especially nervous about telling her what he and Merle used to do when they were drifting. He had been  _terrified_  to tell her about their original plan to rob their group's camp of everything. Daryl had been concerned, worried, and anxious that her opinion of him would change and that she'd want nothing to do with him anymore after hearing all of the skeletons in his closet. But she had soothed him, reminded him of the good he had been doing since she had known him. Ever since he had told her everything, they had been side by side discussing anything and everything. Or enjoying a comfortable silence between them. The night at the table in the funeral home came back to Beth's mind and the intensity of his stare hit her like a ton of bricks.

 _He cares about me._  Her brain thought as it finally processed everything, the changes between them, the constant little touches they had. Her eyes snapped open and she looked at Daryl's profile from her angle on his shoulder. Her heart fluttered and she couldn't stop the smile and giggle that escaped her lips.

 _He cares about me!_  Beth had gotten a brief hint at his silent confession that night but she hadn't had time to really think about it with the walker attack, her kidnapping, the concussion, and dealing with Joe's group. Beth knew how she felt for him; she had figured it out a few weeks after the moonshine house. Her feelings were strong for the hunter, though they weren't love, not yet. She had been uncertain about his feelings for her and had forced her feelings to the back of her mind to keep their friendship from becoming awkward. Her eyes locked with Daryl's as he glanced at her with a smirk.

"What's so funny?" he asked, making Beth blush and smile brightly. She couldn't contain the happiness she felt over her realization.

"Nothing, just thinking."

"That sounds dangerous," he teased and Beth chuckled.

"Play nice, Dixon." Beth sighed, tightening her grip on his shirt which he responded with by tightening his grip on her thighs.

"I have to know," Joe interrupted as he stopped walking to allow Daryl and Beth to catch up to him. The atmosphere between the two instantly went from their light hearted banter to a tense, stiff air as they approached Joe. "I know you two don't plan on tagging with us too much longer so I need to know, will you be with us when we catch this killer tonight?" Daryl tensed instantly under Beth and she flattened the hand that was gripping his shirt so that it was lying flat on his chest above his heart, trying to help keep him calm and level headed.

"Dunno, was thinking of splitting soon," Daryl answered honestly. Joe's gaze turned stony and Beth could feel Daryl's hand rising on her thigh to where the knife sat.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Just the two of you, her injured…I dunno," Joe's voice was soft but Beth could see the threat in his eyes before he turned and walked slightly ahead of them.

"We need to get away from them," Daryl muttered and Beth nodded.

"It'd probably be best to do so when it gets dark, wouldn't it?"

"It'll be risky either way." Beth's eyes looked to the sky, seeing the sun already hanging lower in the western sky. It'd be dark within another hour or so. Her eyes drifted to the tracks and she felt her eyes widen when she saw a candy bar wrapper lying between two boards.

"Daryl," her eyes took in the foot prints on the tracks and she saw three sets. She pointed to the ground and his eyes took in the tracks and the candy bar. "What if it's one of our family…?" she asked, her hope rising in her chest. Daryl cursed softly.

"For once, I hope it's not…"


	5. Chapter 5

"How's your ankle, Beth?" Daryl asked quietly as they walked side-by-side in the dark, trailing further and further behind Joe and his men. Beth had insisted on walking on her own the closer they got to the person Joe was hunting and Daryl had reluctantly agreed. He liked having her warmth against him, her hand on his chest or playing with his coat pockets but he understood why she wanted to walk now. If things went south, he would need his crossbow in hand. He would need to be able to make sure Beth got away or remained unharmed. Still, he was concerned about her. She was limping slightly but it wasn't as pronounced as it had been. Daryl's hand tightly grasped Beth's and he looked at her sternly. "Honestly."

"Stiff, but it doesn't hurt, not really." She replied, squeezing his hand reassuringly. He nodded, his eyes going back to the men in front of them.

"Beth, I know you're not gonna like this but if the people they're chasin' are strangers to us, we're leavin'. Ya understand me?" Beth nodded and Daryl breathed a sigh of relief. There was an obvious look of reluctance on the blonde's face but he was glad that she wouldn't argue with the decision. Joe's hand went up and everyone stopped. A blazer was parked on the road and firelight bounced shadows around the vehicle and the trees. Soft voices and chuckles could be heard. Daryl knocked his crossbow and loaded a bolt, just in case, and let go of Beth's hand to place his over her stomach, gently pushing her to walk backwards and to stay behind him as they left.

Joe and his men snuck around to the backside of the vehicle before attacking. Daryl gestured for Beth to stay back as he moved forward cautiously, the firelight brightening the faces of the people Joe held at gunpoint. Rick and Michonne. His eyes moved to the Blazer and he could see Carl inside.

"Shit," he cursed. He decided to try and talk Joe down and stepped into the circle of men, explaining that they were good people. He could hear Beth's light footsteps edging closer. He knew she had figured out who it was Joe had been hunting and that she wouldn't stand back or leave them to save herself. She had her gun but it only had a couple of bullets left in it. They had been looking for ammo for it, or for another gun with more ammunition, but hadn't had any luck.

"You want blood, I get it. Take mine," Daryl knew offering himself up instead would make Beth freak out, but he would rather them come after him then any of the others. Besides, he figured that if they would focus on him, Rick and the others could help take them out while they were distracted. Daryl should have known better.

"You say he's a good man? Now, you see…that's a lie right there. Teach him, boys, teach him all the way." The two men closest to Daryl, Billy and Harley, dove towards him, sick smiles on their faces as they began punching and beating on him. Daryl grunted and stumbled as a fist knocked him sideways into the side of the blazer. His eyes caught the sight of one of the men pulling the Blazer's door open and grabbing Carl.

"No!" Beth yelled, running forward as she pulled Daryl's knife out of its sheath on her hip. Billy turned and grabbed Beth's wrist as she slashed the knife at him, barely missing his neck. He head-butted the blonde and she stumbled from the impact. Daryl growled, moving to save Beth and seek revenge on the bastard for hitting her but was stopped when the butt of a gun slammed into his ribs and pain lit up his vision.

Another blow came but all Daryl could focus on was his family being attacked around him. A gasp of pain from Beth brought his attention back to her and his eyes widened when he saw Billy trip her and knock her into the vehicle. His eyes saw a flash of silver on the ground and he dove forward to grab the knife Beth had dropped. Harley's rifle made contact with the side of his head and Daryl saw stars. He fought to remain conscious as a kick to his stomach knocked the air out of his lungs. Daryl looked toward Beth, watching as she struggled to reach the knife as Billy closed off her air, his hand tight around her throat.

Her hand wrapped around the blade's handle and she stabbed the blade into Billy's neck, his grip loosening on her throat as he dropped dead beside her.

"You bitch!" Harley yelled as he moved toward the blonde, his fist connecting with her cheek. Daryl had been enraged before when Billy had been hitting her but now he saw a murderous red in his vision. He barely thought about what he was going to do to the bastard, hell he barely thought anything. The ring of gunshots and a scream pulled Daryl from the red haze and his eyes took in the bloody man underneath him. He stood up quickly, his eyes searching for Beth, fear gnawing at his stomach at the idea that she had been shot.

Beth stood a couple of feet away from him, leaning against the front of the Blazer; her gun in her hand, pointed down at the body of Dan. Carl was curled into Michonne's side, staring in fear at Dan's unmoving body. Michonne had gotten the gun from her attacker and had killed him. Daryl's eyes moved to Rick. Blood covered Rick's face and neck and Joe's body lay in front of him, a huge chunk of flesh bitten from the man's neck. Daryl glanced around and once he realized that all of the threats were gone, he stumbled to Beth and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly.

Beth shook slightly in his arms and he heard her gun clatter to the ground beside them, her arms moving to wrap tightly around his middle. He held her for a moment before pulling away and tilting her face to look at her injuries. Her lip was split and her cheek was already swelling. There were red finger marks on her neck that he was sure would bruise too and she was covered in Billy's blood.

"Beth, you okay?" It was a dumb question, he knew it, but he had to ask.

"You're the one who got hit by the butt of a rifle, are you okay?" her voice was shaky, croaky, her eyes were wide and Daryl could see the panic in her eyes as they looked over his body.

"'m fine, Greene. You didn't answer me. Are you okay?" She looked down at her bloodied hands, watching as they shook viciously.

"I-I've never…." She swallowed heavily, "I mean, I have…at the prison, I shot at people…hit some but I've never…" Daryl nodded, wrapping her in his arms again. She'd never had to stab someone before or watch the life leave their eyes. He closed his eyes, guilt wracking through his body.

"I'm sorry, Beth. You did good, though…You saved me and Carl." Beth nodded against his chest before turning slightly to look at the other three. Silence filled the camp as everyone's adrenaline stopped pumping and they realized what had just occurred. Michonne eased Carl up and into the Blazer. Rick joined Daryl and Beth at the front of the vehicle before he shakily lowered himself to the ground by the tire. The three sat in silence, staring at the ground or the trees across the road from them, until the sun rose. Daryl's arm was draped behind Beth, holding her tightly to his side, her head laying on his shoulder and his resting on top of hers.

"Thank you," Rick said silently, "for saving Carl." Beth gently lifted herself off the ground and walked to their trash bag, pulling out their bottles of water before walking back and returning to her spot beside Daryl. The hunter watched her, taking in her silence and pale face. Her lips trembled slightly and she took a deep breath, swallowing heavily. Daryl jumped slightly when he felt her hand poke his butt and he stared at her in shock.

"Your bandana," she said with a small smile. He cleared his throat and nodded, tilting his body slightly to pull the red cloth from his back pocket. Beth handed a water bottle and the cloth to Rick, instructing him to clean up his face and then to go join Carl in the vehicle.

"He needs you and he can see you, you can't," she stated when the sheriff opened his mouth to argue. Rick nodded, using a little of the water to wipe his face clean before standing and climbing into the vehicle. Daryl picked up the water and his bandana and began gently cleaning the blood off of Beth's arms and hands.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, surprising the hunter.

"You got nothing to be sorry about, Beth."

"No, I do…I didn't stay back, and then I missed and I tripped…you should be yelling at me right now. I messed up…" Daryl sighed and shook his head.

"If you had stayed back, what do you think might have happened?" The blonde shrugged, her eyes filling with tears.

"I would have lost you…they were goin to beat you to death…and Carl, he was gonna…" Daryl leaned forward and placed his lips gently against her forehead, stopping her words. Beth sighed and leaned into his lips slightly, her hand moving up to lay over his heart, the thumping muscles under his warm skin reassuring her that they were both okay, they were both alive.


	6. Chapter 6

When the group finally decided to move on late the next morning, everyone was silent. Beth limped beside Daryl, her hand brushing the hunter's with every swing. After a while of walking, Daryl grabbed the blonde's hand and threaded their fingers together making her look up at him in surprise. The hunter kept his eyes forward but glanced at her through the corner of his eyes once she was facing forward again. When Daryl looked forward again, his eyes met the smirking and teasing faces of Michonne and Carl. He scowled in return, hoping that his surliest look would stop their staring.

It didn't. In fact, the two quickly chuckled at him and began whispering to each other about Daryl holding Beth's hand. Their giggles and words eventually caught Rick's attention and a knowing smile covered the man's face when his eyes caught the intimate action between the two. The attention and teasing made Daryl want to drop her hand and run but he fought the urge, forcing his thoughts to focus on the feel of her hand in his.

Beth squeezed his hand tightly and he looked down at her. Her eyes were focused at something to their left and he followed her gaze. He stopped in his tracks when he saw it was another Terminus sign. This one, however, had Maggie's writing all over it. It was the first they had seen since their time with The Claimers.

' _Glenn, go to Terminus. Maggie, Sasha, Bob_ '

Daryl could feel anger at Maggie growing as Beth let out a disheartened sigh and she let go of Daryl's hand and limped ahead of the rest of their group. Rick met Daryl's eyes, a confusion and concern for the blonde in his eyes. Michonne and Carl walked quickly to catch up to the limping blonde and Rick began walking beside the hunter.

"Wonder why Maggie didn't include her," Rick thought aloud.

"She thinks it's because Maggie thinks she didn't make it or that she's with Glenn," Daryl grumbled. Rick was silent for a moment before nodding slightly.

"Beth is a strong girl. Always has been for as long as we've known her. Maggie has known her longer, she should know that too. How is she holding up?"

"She's been silent. Last night was…hard." Daryl finished lamely and the sheriff nodded. Rick was silent a moment before looking at the hunter.

"You two are good for each other. You've given her a physical strength. She seems to have brought you an emotional strength. The two of you will help each other through this, I know you will."

"I'm happy for you, you're my brother, and you've found someone to bring you happiness and love. You need those to survive in this world." Daryl gave a grunt in response, unable to find the words to express how much the approval Rick had just given him meant. Not that Daryl was sure he would be able to use that approval for anything, he doubted this thing with Beth would make it very far or long with how he always ruined things. Never mind the fact that he couldn't pinpoint exactly _how_ the petite blonde felt for him. He wasn't good at relationships of any kind so he was already preparing for the end of things with the woman. Rick took bigger steps to rejoin Michonne and Carl and Daryl was left to his thoughts until Beth rejoined him.

"You're thinking awful hard, Dixon, penny for your thoughts?" Beth teased. Daryl looked at her through his bangs and shook his head.

"Need more 'n a penny for 'em," he told her.

"Ah, so your thoughts are as heavy as the look on your face," Daryl's eyes went to their hands as Beth held his again. "Is it Terminus?" she asked and he shrugged. The place had been weighing heavily on his thoughts as doubts and concerns about where they were headed and the kind of place it could be had played through his mind, but that wasn't exactly what had been bothering him.

"Okay, it's partially Terminus but it's not your major concern at the moment, right?" Daryl looked at the blonde in surprise. Her ability to read him so well astounded him. He nodded slightly and Beth 'hmm'd' in thought. "Is it Maggie's note?" Again, Daryl shrugged and Beth sighed as she thought of what else could be bothering the man.

"Is it…me?" Her voice was uncertain and his eyes immediately sought hers. "It is…." Her hand instantly let go of his and she stopped walking. Daryl stopped and turned to her, his eyes taking in the worried look on her face. "Did I misunderstand? Overstep my boundaries?" she asked.

"Wha? No, Beth, it ain't…" Daryl sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I…I ain't good at this." He looked at Beth, their eyes searching the others for what wasn't being spoken. A determined look that almost said 'fuck it' came over the blonde's face and she stepped up to the hunter, rising slightly and pressing her lips to the corner of Daryl's mouth, making him freeze in shock. When Daryl didn't move, Beth lowered herself back to the flats of her feet, her cheeks pink and her eyes on their feet.

"I'm sorry, I…" Daryl's hands captured the sides of her head and his lips interrupted her apology as they slanted over hers. Her eyes closed as the elation she felt raced through her veins and her heart pounded in her chest. All too soon, the kiss ended as Daryl leaned back, a small grin on his face as he looked at the blonde.

"You didn't misunderstand," he told her and she nodded dumbly, still reeling from the kiss. "There's a lot goin' on, a lot to be thinking about…and last night, watching him attack you…I realized how…" he sighed. "How important you were to me." Daryl looked briefly ahead to where Rick, Carl, and Michonne were still walking, getting further away. "Come on, we need to catch up."

"Okay…You're important to me too, Daryl." The blonde told him before grabbing his hand and pulling him along, her pace quick to help them catch up to their family members.

* * *

"Look," Rick pointed to something to the right of the tracks and Daryl followed his arm to a small town. He could see a hunting store and a small grocery store on the edge of the town and nodded.

"We could use some supplies. If Terminus isn't safe, we'll need weapons to protect us."

"We'll scout it before we go in. If it isn't safe, we won't go near it," Rick corrected, "but we'll need the weapons regardless, if there are any left. What we took from that group last night would protect us for a while, but not long. There wasn't much ammo. Need the food too."

"Beth and I can hit the hunting store, you guys get the food. Make it a quick in-and-out deal," Daryl suggested and Michonne nodded.

"We'll meet back here in twenty," she ordered and the group agreed, setting off to the small town and splitting up to go to the stores. Beth knocked on the hunting store's doors and the couple waited until the lone walker made its way to them. Daryl shot it before it got to the doorway and entered the store, his body tense as he glanced around the small building.

"Daryl, look!" Beth exclaimed and the hunter followed her arm as she pointed to something across the room from them. A crossbow, similar to his but slightly smaller in size, hung on a wall next to a box full of bolts. He grinned and glanced at the blonde. "Do you think I can use it?" she asked with a smile and he nodded, his thoughts automatically listing the things he still needed to teach her to insure she could use it properly and knock it on her own, before leading the way to the weapon, his own crossbow up and ready for any sign of trouble. Beth grabbed a duffle bag off of one of the shelves as they passed it before going to the weapon on the wall and taking it down.

"It's lighter than yours," she commented and Daryl let out a hum in response, his eyes taking in the numerous bolts and guns still left in the store.

"This almost seems too good to be true," he told her, his eyes glancing cautiously around. "Too many supplies left here." Beth's eyes looked around as well but neither one could see any immediate danger.

"That walker seemed somewhat new, do you think he was living here?" she asked and Daryl nodded.

"Good possibility. Why don't you try knocking it? See if ya can," he asked with a smirk. Beth let out a breath before placing her foot in the stirrup and grabbing the string and attempting to pull it back like Daryl had shown her on his days earlier. She managed to get it three-quarters of the way back before giving up. He nodded. "You're getting there, getting stronger. You'll be able to knock it on your own soon 'nough. Here," he reached out and she handed the crossbow over to him. He inspected it, finding it in good working order and knocked it for her, loading one of the many bolts from the box into it. He then snapped a quiver onto the weapon and loaded it with bolts before attaching a strap so that she could wear it across her back like his and handing it back to her. The hunter then knocked his own crossbow and filled his quiver with more bolts.

"Keep your knife as your primary weapon until you can knock it on your own. You don't want to fire it and then be unable to knock it and get bit." He ordered and she nodded, adjusting the strap so that the weapon lay more comfortably against her small frame before she began filling their bag with guns, ammo, bolts, and knives. Daryl turned his attention to the other supplies in the building, grabbing another duffle bag and filling it with cleaning supplies as well as holsters and any other goods he deemed needed or potentially needed.

"It's about time, do you think we've got enough?" Beth asked as she slung the duffle bag on her shoulder and readjusted her crossbow. Daryl nodded as he glanced through the bag he had filled before zipping it up and shrugging it on. He lifted his crossbow and nodded his head for Beth to follow him as they exited the store and returned to the train tracks. A low whistle caught their attention and they turned, seeing Rick, Michonne, and Carl approaching from behind.

"Find anything?" Beth asked and the three nodded with bright smiles.

"Store was practically untouched," Michonne explained and Daryl nodded.

"Same as the hunting store."

"You found another crossbow?" Carl asked, his voice full of excitement.

"Yup. Daryl's been teaching me how to use his. When we saw this one, it was almost too good to be true. Now I can practice with my own," Beth smiled brightly at the hunter and he grinned back. "We ready?" she asked and everyone nodded and began walking back down the tracks.


	7. Chapter 7

"Looks empty," Beth whispered to Daryl and he nodded, his eyes never leaving what they could see of Terminus from their hiding spot. Movement between buildings caught their attention and the couple ducked lower into the brush around them, their eyes watching the man that was moving between the buildings, a gun hanging loosely off his shoulder. "Well, at least it's not overrun…that could be a good thing, right?" Daryl grunted in response to her whispered question. He signaled for Beth to turn and the two walked back to the meeting place the small group had set. They returned in time to see Rick digging a hole and stashing their extra weapons.

"See anything?" the sheriff asked and Daryl nodded.

"A man with a gun, walking around the buildings over on the west side," Daryl shared and Rick nodded.

"I didn't see anything. Michonne?"

"Nothing. It's quiet." The woman replied, her eyes staying on Carl's face. Daryl looked between the two curiously before shaking his head and refocusing on the "sanctuary" behind them.

"We'll enter in the back, see what we can find out first."

* * *

"That's daddy's watch!" Beth exclaimed, moving toward the Termite known as Alex. Rick beat her to the teenager, holding him at gun point. Beth immediately turned and raised her crossbow as the people around them all stood and pulled out their guns. She positioned herself next to Daryl, their eyes meeting briefly before facing the threat in front of them again. Blue eyes took in the sight of the riot gear, the poncho, and the orange pack. "They're here," she murmured.

"We'll find 'em" Daryl assured her softly. "Keep focused."

* * *

Daryl gave an angry growl around his deep breathing as another flurry of bullets rained down in front of him. His arm shot out and stopped Beth before she could run past him, stopping her from running into the bullets. He turned and pressed his hand into her lower back pushing her in another direction before running after her and past her to stay in front of her, his crossbow up as fear and concern for the safety of the woman he cared for and his family flooded through his body. The group entered a building with candles and words written in red all over the walls and floor and they spun around in confusion.

"What is this place?" Beth asked in between pants for air.

"I don't know but I don't think they want us dead," Michonne voiced.

"No, they were shooting at our feet," Rick explained before pointing to an open door with the letter A next to it. "This way." Beth looked at Daryl, concern in her eyes. If these people were shooting at their feet, they must be herding them somewhere and they were running straight into it. Daryl grabbed her hand and pulled her along as he ran behind Rick, Carl, and Michonne.

"This is a trap!" Beth yelled out and Daryl nodded and the blonde could see him searching for a different path, a way to escape. Beth pulled Daryl with her when her eyes took in an exit and the he whistled, catching Rick's attention. The sheriff nodded and gestured for Carl and Michonne to follow the couple. Bullets rained down on the group as they exited the door and Beth let out a gasp in pain when one grazed her arm. Daryl's hand tightened on hers and he pulled her to him, curses spewing from his mouth before turning with the group to go back to the door with the A on it.

The group ran out of the building and froze when people on the other side of the fence aimed their guns at them.

"Drop your weapons!" The Termite named Gareth orders. Daryl glanced at his family around him, meeting many of their eyes before they all begrudgingly dropped their weapons, Beth and Daryl being the last ones to drop theirs. "Now, Ringleader, go stand in front of the train car. Then the samurai, then the archer." Daryl stared at Beth, meeting her eyes before grabbing her hand and turning to walk to the train car with her. They froze when Gareth's voice rang out.

"Not you, blondie. No, we'll take you somewhere else, somewhere special." Gareth approached Beth calmly and separated the couple's hands, his eyes looking her over as he circled her. Daryl froze in his steps, turning and gave a menacing growl as he turned, his hands in fists at his side as he stepped closer to the Termite.

"She goes with me," he snarled, making Gareth laugh before he pulled Beth to him, his arm wrapping around her neck. The blonde struggled against his grip, her eyes meeting Daryl's rage filled eyes as his body tensed and he made to pull Gareth's arm off of her. The coolness of a gun's barrel against her forehead made Beth freeze in her struggles, her eyes widening and holding Daryl's gaze as he too froze. She could see a flash of panic cross his features before a rage she had never seen on his face before took over his features.

"Now, archer, go to the train car and stand behind the samurai like I told you to or I'll kill Blondie and the kid and I don't want to do that. The Greater Good needs her." Beth nodded slightly to Daryl and he walked backwards, his eyes flitting between Beth's and Gareth's.

"I'm gonna kill you for this," he told the man and Beth attempted a smile when their eyes met again. "You're gonna be okay." The hunter assured her and Beth nodded.

"I'm more worried about you," she told him, her voice shaking slightly, her eyes moving to the train car then back to his.

"I'll go with you but Rick's son stays with them," she told Gareth. She could feel his nod in agreement and she let out a breath.

"Beth!" Daryl yelled, shaking his head. "This ain't a fuckin' movie, girl!"

"Shut up!" Gareth yelled at the hunter, pressing his gun into Beth's forehead. Daryl's mouth snapped shut. Even from the distance they were at, Beth could see the veins in the hunter's neck as he fought to control his anger. "We have no need for the kid right now. Go ahead, kid. Open the train car and enter it, Ringleader!" Beth struggled against Gareth's grip as she watched her family hesitate before obeying the Termite's orders. Daryl refused to move, cursing loudly when Termites practically pushed him into the train car with guns in his back. She could hear him yelling her name as they slammed the train car door shut and locked it.

"Now then, get a car and take her to the Greater Good." Gareth pushed Beth away from him and she stumbled slightly before she turned and kicked his knee cap, making him scream out in pain. She lunged to the ground where her knife lay but a body slammed into her, knocking the air out of her lungs with the impact.

"Bitch." A voice growled into her ear before the butt of a gun connected with her temple and she blacked out.


	8. Chapter 8

"Beth!" Daryl yelled as he beat on the train car door. "I'm gonna kill you, you son of a bitch!" His yelling paused when he heard a male, possibly Gareth, scream out in pain.

"The bitch dislocated my knee!" Daryl felt a sense of pride fill his chest but it turned to dread when he heard silence and muttering come from the people outside. Beth had fought back. He closed his eyes tightly as his thoughts raced to remember how greatly outnumbered they had been outside of the train car. Fighting back had probably gotten her killed. "Take her to the Greater Good in the city before I change my mind!" he heard the man yell again and his heart lifted from its new position in his stomach. They hadn't killed her for fighting back. It was good news and Daryl mentally vowed to never rest until he had found her.

"Rick? Daryl?" the hunter turned at Glenn's voice and he felt shock rush through his body at the sight of so many of their family members still alive. Bob, Sasha, Maggie, and Glenn along with four people he didn't know.

"Who are they?" Rick asked as Maggie stepped closer to the hunter.

"They helped me find Maggie." Glenn explained and Rick nodded.

"Then they're friends of ours."

"You were yelling about Beth," Maggie interrupted, her eyes wide as she watched Daryl. "Is she here? Is she okay? Where is she?" Flashes of her notes to Glenn crossed Daryl's mind and he turned his body to face her.

"Wha' do you care?" he snarled. "All your notes to lover boy here and not once mentioning your sister? Did you forget about her?" His voice dripped with venom. Rick put his hand on Daryl's shoulder and the hunter shrugged it off before pacing what he could of the train car. The walls felt too narrow, the ceiling too low, and he let out a growl as he kicked the wall of the train car.

"N-no, I didn't forget about Beth," Maggie replied, her voice shaky. She took a deep breath and Daryl looked at her before resuming his pacing. "Everything that happened…it was  _a lot_ to take in. He killed Daddy, right in front of us! And then everything happened and we all got separated…it would have crushed me if I had tried to focus on everything and everyone at once, so I focused on finding Glenn. I needed a job, a destination, a goal, and I found it through my search for him. I hoped that maybe Beth had found him but when I saw that she wasn't with him, I hoped that she had seen the signs for Terminus and would come here. When we got here, I wished she wouldn't come here and that maybe we'd escape and find her somewhere…but you're…you're saying she's here?" Daryl felt a small twinge of guilt as the older Greene spoke. He nodded and leaned against the wall of the train car heavily.

"Yea…they took her. Said the Greater Good needed her. Just a moment ago he said it was in the city…When we get outta here, he's mine," the hunter snarled.

"We need to keep a level head," Rick told them. Maggie nodded, her eyes searching Daryl's face intently, making the hunter feel exposed and uncomfortable.

"How are we going to break out of here?" the woman Glenn introduced as Tara asked. Daryl slid down the train car wall, his mind focusing on the panic he had seen in Beth's eyes before they had been separated. The last time her eyes had looked so panicked had been weeks, or was it days (he honestly couldn't tell anymore), ago when the man in the car had stuffed her into the trunk of that car at the funeral home. The hunter could feel the train car walls shrinking in more and he jumped back up to his feet and resumed his pacing, his rage returning to a roar, making his vision go red.

"Can you stop pacing for a minute?! You're not helping!" Maggie yelled and Daryl spun to face her, his mouth opening to throw a retort at the brunette. "I want out of here just as badly as you do so that we can find my sister…" the older Greene took a deep breath in and out and blinked her eyes to clear the tears building.

"How long have you been in here?" Rick asked the group and the redheaded male, Abraham, shrugged.

"Hard to say. We're guessing a few hours," Abraham said and Glenn looked at the sunlight coming in through the crack of the door and nodded. Rick looked through the gap of the door. A shadow of a person walking by passed the door and he turned to the group.

"They're gonna feel really stupid when they find out…" Rick growled and Dary ceased his pacing to look at him.

"What?"

"That they're screwing with the wrong people."


	9. Chapter 9

_Beth struggled to reach the knife, the cold metal of the Blazer hard against her back as pain radiated through her body. Billy sat on top of her legs, his hands squeezing her throat tightly, her lungs begging for air as she flailed wildly, trying to grab the glinting knife just out of her arms reach. The moment her fingertips touched the cool metal, she slid it closer and grabbed it tightly, her arm moving on its own accord and stabbing the blade into Billy's throat. His blood was hot against her fingers as it sprayed from his body, coating her in the red stickiness. His hands loosened from around her throat and coughs and gasps for air shook her body. After a moment, Billy's body began to fall sideways off of her and she looked up into his eyes and she knew that the sight of the life leaving them would haunt her for the rest of her life. Beth could feel his blood seeping into her clothes and felt bile rise into her throat but she swallowed it down. She pushed herself shakily to her feet once Billy's body was no longer sitting on top of her, her eyes searching for Daryl instantly._

_"You bitch!" Harley yelled as he moved away from Daryl and attacked her, his fist connecting painfully with her cheek and making her head snap sideways as she stumbled and struggled to remain standing. Daryl moved quickly, stumbling in his pain and anger towards them, his eyes a murderous glare as he grabbed Harley off of her and punched him. Beth looked away as Daryl tripped him and began beating him to a pulp, her eyes searching the rest of their family. The sight of Dan straddling Carl made her feel even sicker and her hand moved of its own accord again, pulling her pistol from the holster on her hip and aiming it at the man's head. She walked around the Blazer before firing a shot, the bullet hitting its mark and killing Dan instantly._

_Suddenly the world around her melted and she was standing alone outside of the train car the Termites had pushed Daryl and the rest of her family into. There were sounds coming from within the train car and her heart leapt into her throat as she rushed forward and pulled the door open. A terrible stench of death and decay met her nose and her stomach rolled. Vomit escaped from her mouth before she could stop it and she bent over beside the doorway to throw up. A groan met her ears and she turned, wiping her mouth on her sleeve. Her eyes met the grey, lifeless eyes of Daryl Dixon. He was a walker, having died of dehydration and starvation inside the train car. His hands grabbed her shoulders and she screamed his name as his teeth sank into her neck._

"What the hell?" a voice cut through Beth's nightmare and she groaned in pain. The words bounced around her skull along with her scream of Daryl's name and the pain made her stomach heave. The pain reminded Beth of everything that had happened. She had been hit in the temple with the butt of a rifle. She was being taken somewhere and her family, Daryl, they were locked inside a train car in the sweltering summer heat.

They were lucky if they were still alive. No, they would be, she knew it. Beth tried to open her eyes but the pain in her head was too great and she felt herself slipping back into unconsciousness.

"Sounds like a nightmare."

"Daryl…" she muttered as she felt the darkness lifting from around her again. This time, she could hear two voices whispering. One was male and the other female.

"She keeps muttering about a Daryl…what should we tell her?"

"The truth. That he's dead."

 _No,_ Beth thought, ignoring the pain in her head as she opened her eyes, her vision blurry.  _That's not right. He's fine. They all are. They're alive and I'm going to find them._ She blinked furiously and her vision cleared. A man wearing light blue scrubs stood near a doorway, a woman wearing a police uniform facing him. Beth pushed herself to sit up and the movement grabbed the attention of the policewoman.

"You're awake, excellent. We apologize about the head wound, Gareth tends to be extreme in his behavior." Beth ignored her as she pushed herself to stand up, her eyes taking in the room around her. It appeared she was in a room in a hospital. "How's your head?" the policewoman asked and Beth glared at her. The blonde had a sinking feeling in her stomach that told her she was in a bad situation and that the policewoman was part of the problem.

"Do you remember your name?" the man in scrubs asked. Beth turned her glare on him before walking to the doorway.

"Get out of my way, I'm going to my family," she ordered, anger dripping from her words. When neither one moved, she shoved her way past them and turned to go down the hallway. The policewoman gave a loud sigh before following, her steps heavy with her anger and frustration. The blonde glanced back at the woman before turning and sprinting down the hallway, pain radiating through her body from the fight with Billy and Harley a couple of days prior and the tackling the Termites had done to her before they knocked her out. The sounds of the policewoman's shoes slapping the tile behind her pushed Beth to run faster. She threw open a door and let out a pained "oof!" as her body collided with someone else's. Arms wrapped around her and pinned her arms to her side before a sharp sting of a needle in her neck made Beth give a yelp.

"You shouldn't have tried running," the policewoman said from behind her and Beth fought to keep her suddenly heavy eyelids from closing. They had drugged her.

 _"Beth,"_ Daryl's voice echoed in her head, " _come on, girl. Fight it. It's not safe there."_ The blonde struggled to reopen her eyes, to move her arms or even kick her feet, but it was like she was suddenly filled with lead and nothing could move.

"Daryl, I can't," she muttered before darkness consumed her again.

* * *

When Beth came to again, she let out a loud groan as she attempted to open her eyes only to squeeze them shut when the pounding in her head increased and her stomach rolled with nausea. Her brain registered a panicked scream and a distant groaning sound. The blow the Termite had given her had been the second major hit her head had taken, and with it being so soon after the first one gave her that concussion, she was certain she was in no shape for a fight. But the groans and sounds of shuffling feet were getting louder and her nose could pick up the stench of death as the walkers approached.

"What do we do about the new girl?" a voice hollered down the hall before the sounds of gunshots rang out and Beth forced her eyes open at the sounds.

"Just leave her! How did these things get in here?" a female voice hollered back, making Beth frown. They had gone as far as drugging her to keep her there but were willing to leave her to die at the hands of the walkers? The whole situation didn't make sense to her. The blonde looked herself over to inspect for any new wounds and felt a disturbing, uncomfortable feeling wash over her at the sight of her wearing blue scrubs instead of her jeans and sweater.

" _Beth,"_ his voice sounded in her head and Beth had to fight to keep from jumping up and looking around for him. " _Beth, it ain't safe. You gotta move, you gotta fight."_ Pain radiated through the blonde as she nodded her head to his voice, knowing he wasn't really there to say those things to her, let alone to see her nod. _"Dammit, girl, come on!"_ Daryl's voice echoed in her head and she cringed at the pain it brought with it.

She struggled to push herself to a crouched position on the cold tile floor of the hospital room. She looked around the small room for a weapon she could use but she didn't get long to look or investigate as the sounds of the walkers getting nearer pulled her attention. She pushed herself to stand and walked to the door of the room right as two people in blue scrubs ran past the door. Beth looked down the direction they had come from and felt her throat tighten at the sight of a large group of walkers about fifty feet away stumbling their way towards her.

The blonde quickly ran after the two strangers, her eyes searching the area around her for an escape or a weapon as she ran. A yelp of surprise pulled her attention back to the two in front of her and she slid to a stop at the sight of a group of walkers in front of them. The female of the two let out a scream as a walker bit into her arm and Beth ran towards her, pulling the gun from the woman's hand and shooting the walkers around them.

"Come on!" she yelled at the two, her arm reaching out and looping around the injured and now sobbing woman. The three turned and sprinted down another hallway, skidding to a halt in front of a door that opened after the man threw himself against it a couple of times. Once all three were through the door, the man slammed the door shut and searched for something to use to block the door.

"We don't have the time," Beth told him, "the walkers aren't that far away and we need to amputate her arm."

"What?!" the woman cried out as she pushed herself away from Beth. Beth looked the woman over, taking in her dark skin and curly hair, her wild brown eyes.

"If we amputate it now, you won't become infected. You won't become one of them," the blonde informed her.

"I'm not going to let you cut off my arm! I don't even know you, how do I know I can trust you?" the woman cried out.

"We don't  _have the time_  for this!" Beth yelled at her, her blue eyes moving to the man as he shoved a broom through the door handles on the doors behind them. The sounds of the walkers on the other side of the door grew louder and the three jumped when pounding and banging began to echo from the doors behind them.

" _Run, Beth."_ Daryl's voice told her and she pressed her lips into a line.

' _I refuse to leave them_ ,' she thought to herself. ' _They could be good people, Daryl.'_

" _I don't think the good ones survive. They were going to leave you."_

Beth heaved a sigh, her eyes glancing at the two people in front of her before glancing back at the door behind them, which was opening more with every push the walkers made. Her eyes narrowed at the two people standing in front of her before she turned and ran.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N – This chapter is dedicated to xBlueMagnoliax on tumblr cuz she's awesome and I adore her.**

**This chapter was extremely difficult to write. The muse wanted me to scrap it every time I blinked but I was too far into it and didn't want to do that...Anywho, I'm feeling really nervous about this chapter and hope you enjoy it.**

**Badass Beth, comin up! Warning for violence.**

**Chapter 10**  –

Beth ran as fast as she could, her feet pounding the tile floor of the hospital hallway in the brown shoes that were much too big for her, each step making her feet slide and shift in the large shoes. She felt clumsy. The blonde glanced behind her briefly, her large blue eyes taking in the sight of the door bursting open and walkers pouring into the hallway, the two others in scrubs running several feet behind her. She forced her eyes to focus back on the hallway in front of her, her heart racing and her head pounding. The blonde spotted a sign for a stairway down a hallway to her left and she quickly turned to go down that hallway. Daryl's voice was in her head, instructing her to find a weapon of some sort and get the hell out of the hospital and the youngest Greene followed his orders.

Beth's eyes honed in on the door with the ' _EXIT_ ' sign hanging above it and she pushed her feet to move faster. She was feet away from the door when an arm suddenly shot out and she ran straight into it, the limb staying stiff against her chest and throwing her back, her feet sliding on the floor and her body flying backwards and down to the ground from the force of the collision. Her breath was knocked from her lungs as she hit the ground and she lay on the cold tile, her lungs gasping and wheezing for breath as her blue eyes watered and met the cold, brown eyes of the brunette woman in the police uniform.

"Get up," the woman barked, her hand on her gun. Beth blinked the moisture from her eyes and glared at the woman above her before pushing herself to her knees and then her feet. "You're not going anywhere."

"Watch me," Beth retorted. The woman in front of her clenched her jaw and tightened her grip on her gun.

"You made this mess, fix it!" The blonde snorted.

"I didn't do this! I woke up from your drugging to those two about to leave me behind.  _They_ started this." The brunette forcibly turned Beth around as the other two in scrubs caught up to them.

"The three of you  _fix this_."

" _I_ don't have a weapon, as I'm sure you are well aware," Beth bit back. The policewoman shoved a machete into Beth's hand and the blonde eyed it thoughtfully. She could very easily turn this blade on the woman behind her and run for it.

 _There are too many walkers,_ she thought as the small herd grew closer to them.

 _Stay light on your feet, Beth,_ Daryl's voice whispered in her mind and Beth's mouth set into a grim line. The other two in scrubs were given knives and the three faced the herd of walkers. The woman beside Beth wasn't doing too well, the bite on her arm obviously affecting her.

 _Maybe I should put her out of her misery,_  Beth thought as she glanced over the woman, noting the sheen of sweat on her forehead and her labored breathing. Surprise filled the blonde. Where had that thought come from? That was not who she was. Beth Greene was not a dark person and she certainly did not kill the living. Images of Billy, Harley, and Dan, the three men of Joe's group that she had killed, flashed through her mind and Beth fought off a shudder.

Killing them had been out of necessity. Billy had been strangling her, threatening to have his way with her and make Daryl watch. Harley had been beating Daryl to death. Dan had been about to…Beth shook her head, forcing herself to refocus on the quickly approaching walkers. The blonde took a few steps forward and used the machete to cut into the first walker's head. Using her foot to help free the blade, she spun and kicked another walker away from her; doing her best to remember all the tips Daryl had taught her when they had been together.

It was gruesome and exhausting. Her pounding head and the drugs still pumping through her body made the fight twice as difficult as it should have been. Her feet became a powerful tool to help give her space when walkers got to close but every kick took more out of her. The temptation to run past the brunette officer was strong and there were a couple of times that Beth kicked a walker closer to the woman to see what would happen, but every time she did, one of the others in scrubs would kill it.

 _Only four left, Beth, you're doin' great!_ Daryl's words helped Beth push herself for those last four. The machete stuck in the second-to-last walker and the blonde struggled to pull it free as the last one approached her quickly. The man in the scrubs came between her and the last walker and efficiently stabbed it through the eye with his knife, his head turning to check on her with a brief nod as she pulled the machete free and muttered a quiet thanks.

"That wasn't too hard, now was it?" the brunette cop asked them, making Beth let out a breathless chuckle. The blonde kept her back to the woman and listened as she approached. "You, take this one to surgery. The quicker we get medicine in her the quicker she'll recover."

"There's no cure for this," Beth pointed out as she turned to the officer and the bit woman.

"Gareth must not have told you why you're here. We're working on a cure," the brunette replied calmly. For the first time since the farm, Beth felt that hopeful light in her heart. A cure?

"How?"

"We're testing different theories." Beth glanced at the bit woman and then the brunette officer.

"You mean experimentation? On humans?"

"Well, we can't exactly use mice or rabbits. Animals don't seem to be affected by the disease."

"Have any of your  _theories_ been successful?" Beth ground out between her clenched teeth. The woman's blasé attitude toward the fact that they were experimenting on other people was really rubbing the blonde the wrong way.

"If it had, would you have just had to fight off all of them biters?" the brunette gestured to the pile of bodies behind Beth and the blonde blew a strand of hair out of her eyes with a angry huff. She tightened her hand on the handle of the machete as the policewoman approached her, the woman's brown eyes steely. "Best get comfortable here, Beth. You'll never leave her again."

 _Wrong thing to say,_ Beth thought as she raised the machete and prepared to bring it down on the woman's head.  _My family needs me. Daryl needs me_.

Pain shot through Beth's wrist as the woman grabbed her arm and wrist and stopped her mid-swing, twisting her wrist painfully until she dropped the machete. The blonde cried out as she felt and heard the joint snap and pop. It was most likely broken now.

"Wrong move, Beth," the brunette warned, her eyes glaring into Beth's. "That's a warning, the next time you try something like that, you'll be on the next operating table."

* * *

Daryl fought the bindings and the gag in his mouth before the butcher pushed his head over the trough in front of him. His eyes met Gareth's as he entered the room and his glare turned stony.

"Where's Beth?" he shouted through the gag, over and over again until Gareth removed it from his mouth to hear him better. " _Where's. Beth?!"_  he growled, making Gareth smile cruelly.

"She's in good hands in Atlanta," he replied before replacing the gag and moving to hear what Bob had to say, annoyed that they were trying to talk to him, plead with him to not kill them. Daryl watched silently, his hands working to get ahold of the wooden shank he had cut out of the train car's wall, to get freed, anything, as Rick and Gareth discussed their bag of weapons.

"There's a machete with a red handle. That's what I'm gonna use to kill you," Rick threatened.

 _Or I will,_ Daryl thought darkly.  _One way or another, you're going to be dead for taking Beth and doing this._


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N – This is in honor and memory of my sister. Miss and love you, sis.**

**This is also for you, my readers. Thank you for continuing to support and encourage me through my hiatus and these difficult times.**

**Sorry for the long delay in writing. The desire to write comes slowly and leaves quickly.**

**Chapter 11 –**

Baby blues opened before slamming shut at the brightness of the day.  _Okay, here we go again, Beth,_ she thought to herself before she slammed her eyes open and squinted at the brightness again.  _Just like the past week, ever since I was shot…_ Beth let out a soft sigh as she waited for the world to adjust, to stop tilting and blurring. Her thoughts turned to the hospital, the sound of the gun firing still echoed in her ears, the splitting pain as the bullet pierced her skull, skirted the top of her brain, and shot out the back of her head.

Her survival confused her. She remembered a second shot but everything was hazy, a blur. She remembered Daryl's strong arms easing under her limp body, his sobs as he carried her. She had wanted nothing more than to cry out, to let him know she was alive. She had felt the sunlight and breeze on her body, she remembered the sounds Maggie made.

There had been panic and then she was in the backseat of a car. Abandoned. She had heard Daryl, screaming and crying that he couldn't leave her like that. She had lifted a finger, or she thought she had, and Daryl had yelled some more. She thought he had seen it and that he would stay with her, but he was gone and the car had been pounded for hours by walkers.

It was all a punishment for what she had done. She had killed Billy and Dan, had assisted in the killing of Harley…and then she had spiraled further down, killing Gorman, Jeffries, and O'Donnell.

Even worse than that, she had plotted the deaths of several of the other officers at Grady Memorial. So, this was her punishment. She had sinned and now, instead of being granted passage to heaven, she was forced to stay on the walker-ridden world. Her survival unknown to all of her family.

It had been a week since everything happened. A week of her stumbling, half alive, through shops and streets of Atlanta, a blinding pain a constant reminder that she had survived a bullet to the head.

In all honesty, she was surprised she had made it this long without a weapon and a hole in her head. The streets crawled with walkers but she somehow got through them, undetected and unbothered by the dead around her. Perhaps she was so close to joining them that they couldn't smell her or weren't interested in her. Perhaps she was dead and couldn't tell.

 _That is a ridiculous thought, Beth,_ she chastised herself. If she were one of them, she would not have the thoughts she was having. She would not be self-aware. She would be hungry for a man-which and she  _definitely_ was not that. In fact, she couldn't recall the last time she actually felt hungry, which was good because finding food was difficult for her.

So, she stumbled north, everyday, grabbing supplies if she saw them, eating if she found something, sleeping when she felt up to it. Which she rarely did because sleep is where she is reminded of everything. Not that she ever forgot any of the things that she had done over the past few weeks to a couple of months (she couldn't quite remember  _that_  detail, though she kept track of how long she had been completely by herself). How could she forget. She had become a monster.

A monster that moved freely among monsters. It was impossible.

It was the truth. She despised who she had become. The day before, Beth had reached the outskirts of Atlanta and found a camp of people, a family. The family was surrounded and Beth watched as they cried for help before turning and leaving. She had let the family be consumed. She couldn't fathom the person she had become.

Perhaps the bullet had damaged something in her brain. Perhaps she had given up on people, on faith.

She would have been useless to that family, anyways. She didn't have any weapons to help destroy the walkers they were surrounded by. Perhaps she had acted on that knowledge without being aware of it.

Her head pounded with every step she took and her eyes burned from staying open, from the harsh early morning light. The sun was only just beginning to rise but it was still too much for her.

She paused in her walking as a group of walkers stumbled their way in her direction. She wondered if her luck would run out this time. If the walkers would realize that she actually was not one of them and was really food. Once again, the group stumbled by, watching her as they did.

 _Do I smell that bad? Do I smell like them?_ Beth did not want to find out. She pushed herself to keep moving north. When she had come to and had become aware that she was really alive, once she had realized that she was alone, abandoned, she closed her eyes and pointed in a random direction. That direction had been north and that was the direction she walked in.

The days rolled by, eighteen days, to be exact. Beth had been tracking them with lines from a pen she had found on her jeans. Her pace had picked up some throughout the days, her head aching less. She assumed she was healing and recovering. She had found a weapons store with a few hunting knives and guns with ammo, so when the dead finally started to notice her again, she had been prepared.

Her blue eyes took in the house she had stayed in for the night. It was small and quaint, on the edges of Danville, Kentucky. She had surprisingly found a decent amount of food in the house; it was the best she had eaten in a while. Beth had no clue what month it was but the heat of the summer was waning, so she figured it was nearing fall.

 _It was a bad idea to go north, Beth_. The blonde hummed to herself as she prepared her breakfast, a simple one of dry, stale cereal she had found in the house. The humming was the only use her vocal cords received and she found that it sometimes hurt, so it was a habit that was slowly being dropped.

She remembered all of the times she sang for her daddy or Daryl. Beth wondered if her voice would ever let her do that again. She wondered if there was even a reason to wonder if she would ever sing for Daryl again.

Not that the blonde thought he was dead, far from it. She knew he would survive anything. Beth just knew that there was no chance of bumping in to the hunter in Kentucky. Her heart ached with the thought of him and Rick, Maggie, and the others. It had not been her intention to walk all the way to Kentucky; it almost seemed surreal to her that she had done so. But when she stopped and stared at the sign welcoming her to Kentucky, well, it had taken quite a while for it to sink in.

She had been in a haze, recovering from being tracked and attacked by a small band of survivors. Three more names on her list of victims. They had tried toying with her, trapping her, wounding her…one of them slipped up and she had used it to her advantage.

 _Another scar to add to the list_ , she thought as she checked the bandage on her shoulder in the mirror of the bathroom, the knife wound healing slowly, the peroxide from a store she had raided earlier in the week stinging as it cleaned. Her eyes floated to the scars Dawn had gifted her with on her cheek and forehead. Then she took in the small spot on her forehead from the bullet.

There was no way Dawn had done that to her. She had walked herself through the entire meeting and exchange of hostages several times. It didn't add up, the angle of the wound and how Dawn had been standing. Beth shrugged and walked out of the bathroom. It was time to leave.

Her blue eyes fell on a photo of a young couple, presumably the former owners of the house. The young, short, blonde woman with bright green eyes standing beside a taller, older man with graying hair. The blonde was pregnant, her hands resting on her baby bump, her wedding ring shining in the daylight. The older man, her husband, Beth guessed, holding her. They looked so in love and happy in the picture.  _Thank you for the shelter and food,_  Beth thought to the couple.  _I hope you have found peace._ She tried not to think of their baby.

The blonde supposed some things about her would never change. She closed the door softly and stepped down the wooden steps, her boots moving softly in a circle as she spun, her arm extended with her finger out, pointing her new direction. She stopped and opened her eyes.

East. So she went.

Twenty three days later, she would find a sign of her family living in the Alexandria Safe Zone.

Three days after that, the dark blue eyes of a hunter would find her tracks, find her light blue eyes.

But that is getting ahead of the story and as of right now, she's just a monster walking amongst other monsters.


	12. Chapter 12

Saved

A/N: I'll be honest. I haven't watched TWD in so long. I used to watch it every weekend with my sister but, ever since she passed, I haven't been able to do it. So, I'm going to try and make myself catch up on it so that I can have decently accurate events. For now, enjoy chapter 12.

I listened to Imagine Dragons – Believer for this chapter.

As always and forever more, this is in honor of my sister. I miss and love you.

Chapter 12 –

Beth shifted her feet in the boots she had just found. They were much too big for her. Her luck, though, as of late. It had taken her less than a day of walking to find this store. If it was even really called that.

She was in Paint Lick, Kentucky and it wasn't much of a city. More of a forgotten suburb. The blonde shrugged and wrapped some wire she had found around the ankles and shins of her boots and legs. Anything to help keep them tighter and on her feet. With a deep breath, she pushed herself to stand and gathered her things from where they had been beside her. Her feet shifted in the boots and she frowned. Blisters were definitely in her future.

Beth eased her way quietly out of the house she had taken a break in and glanced around. The walkers were smaller in number here but that didn't ease her wariness. Nothing ever did nowadays.

Her thoughts flashed back to that night at the funeral home and the car that had come from nowhere and then to the ambush she had gone through in Allardt, Tennessee, where she had been stabbed in the shoulder. Anything can happen in a second.

'Wait…' Beth's eyes narrowed on an empty pickup truck that was parked in the yard across the street. She walked carefully across the small street and inspected the area around the truck. A few feet away from the truck was something Beth had seen long ago, in the moonshine shack with Daryl. She grinned when she saw the pink, or what used to be pink but was now significantly faded from the sun, bra shaped container that, just like at the moonshine still, was full of cigarette butts. Or what used to be cigarette butts. They were old and had been sitting in the elements for a long while, Beth judged.

"Who would go into a store and walk out with this?!"

It was a question she still had and here she is, finding a second one. She shook her head and refocused on the truck. The truck with all of the hunting gear inside of it. Some of it she couldn't use. She didn't have the experience with a hunting rifle and it would ultimately weigh her down. The object beside it, she could use, however. A crossbow. A ladies crossbow. She tilted an eyebrow to the color of it but grabbed it regardless. The weight was good, not too heavy for her though she would need to continue building her upper body strength to keep it comfortable. She found a few more items in the pick up that were worthy of use to her. Another knife and some ammo to one of her pistols. Perhaps the owners of the truck had prepared for a hunting trip when the world ended…or perhaps they were attempting to flee to safety when the world ended.

'Stop thinking about it, Beth,' she thought to herself. Once her bag was full of what supplies she could use and carry, her eyes fell to the ignition of the truck and decided against it. Using some wire that she had left over from her boots, she created a strap, albeit an uncomfortable strap, for the crossbow and slung it over her shoulders.

With the sun setting, she set off to the east, continuing her trek to her family.

According to the marks on her jeans, it had been almost a week of walking when she stopped and stared at the sign for Williamson, West Virginia. She wiped her bloody knife on her jeans and let out a breath into the crisp fall air. Beth turned and looked behind her and took a deep breath. Kentucky had been pleasant, as a state. She had thoroughly enjoyed hiking through Daniel Boone's National Forest. It gave her a better opportunity to practice and hone in on her skills with tracking and hunting. Knocking her bow had gotten easier, though she was still incredibly slow at it. It was a fact that made her grit her teeth. Of course, she didn't expect to master it in the six days that she had had the weapon but she wished it would happen faster than what it was.

Beth was pretty proud of herself, though. She had managed to track and kill a rabbit with the bow. So, she was definitely improving. Her body was getting stronger. Her head still ached from the bullet wound but she had popped antibiotics and pain relievers, when she could find them, like candy for the past month to help fight any possible infections and the pain. The last glance she had made at her reflection a few days ago, showed her that she was healing pretty well.

However, she was exhausted. Healing was taking everything out of her. She pushed herself to walk from the moment sunlight started creeping into the sky until it was almost too dark to do anything. Everyday and, now, it was really starting to affect her. Prior to this, her dazed and injured condition made the long walks a haze. She often didn't sleep or eat while she was in her condition. Now, her body was returning to itself and demanding food and rest.

Beth sighed and resumed her walk into Williamson, her knife out and ready. She pushed herself to walk around the town, stopping only to investigate vehicles or items that were open and abandoned. She didn't want to risk a house just yet but she knew she needed to. The sun was setting and the temperatures were dropping. Beth eased her way to a small gas station, knocked on the windows, and waited. Nothing. She walked cautiously into the building, ignoring everything until she verified it was clear. Then her eyes took in the empty shelves. Typical. With the sun setting so low, the blonde shifted her bags and set off to a house to rest for the night.

Blue eyes snapped open. It was still quite dark out but Beth grabbed all of her things and knocked her crossbow and hunched down on the sheet on which she had slept. It hadn't been an ideal sleeping arrangement, the floor was hard and cold under her, but she didn't mind too much. Her exhaustion had lulled her to sleep as soon as she knew the quaint home was secure.

She strained her ears to listen for the sound that woke her. There it was. Heavy footsteps, not humanoid, more than likely a large animal. Beth's first thought was a black bear, they are found in West Virginia, though this close to Williamson, she didn't know. With how dark it is, there was no way for her to know. The blonde lowered herself back to her pallet, laying in a way that she didn't have to take her pack off but sleep did not come. She sat, prepared, until the briefest glimpse of light appeared on the horizon and with that and a clear escape path, she left.


End file.
